Speaking of rival sects, the Vice Hall Master smiled and said, "The situation in the Azure Tide Ruins is extremely delicate right now. None of the big sects are making any moves—Freewind Palace has always stayed neutral, and because they're so powerful, no one dares to provoke them."
Among them, Sacred Sword Sect and Bloodfiend Hall are utterly irreconcilable—whenever disciples from those two sects meet, it's a fight to the death. They're the factions with the sharpest conflict in the Azure Tide Ruins.
Mist Rain Pavilion and Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion are mortal enemies too. Supposedly, their two pavilion masters were once deeply in love, but something split them apart, and each founded their own power. Now one sect is all men, the other all women—it's honestly pretty entertaining.
Other sects have the occasional minor friction, but nothing truly serious. Lately, though, with the rise of the Dark God Cult, all the major sects are starting to sense that things are getting dangerous—some have even begun forming secret alliances."
"Dark God Cult? Just hearing that name, you know it's trouble. Looks like the Azure Tide Ruins are about to get bloody." Evan Chu said.
"Evan, what are you planning? Your strength is still pretty low, so trying to seize the Frostbane Sect master seat will be extremely tough. I think you'd be better off staying here in the Western Beast King Hall until you're stronger. We've got plenty of spirit herbs and Starstones—more than enough for your cultivation." Heaven Ape said.
"Old Ape, I'll stay here for a while, but my friends will stay in the Western Beast King Hall for good. If they stick with me, they'll just become burdens. In this world of the strong, I really can't protect them. Maybe bringing them here in the first place was a mistake." Evan Chu said.
"Don't worry about that. Whatever they need, we'll provide. No one's ever dared cause trouble in the Western Beast King Hall." Heaven Ape replied.
Now that he'd arrived in the Azure Tide Ruins, Evan Chu's desire for Spirit Pearls was stronger than ever, so he asked, "Do you know where I could find any Spirit Pearls? I need them to improve my strength."
"Spirit Pearls? Those are incredibly rare treasures. The Western Beast King Hall doesn't have any, but I do know there's a Wood Spirit Pearl hidden somewhere in the Monster Beast Forest—problem is, no one's ever been able to get it. Also, the Freewind Palace Lord has a Gold Spirit Pearl, but that's just as hard to obtain." the Vice Hall Master said.
Hearing the whereabouts of those two Spirit Pearls, Evan Chu's heart surged with excitement. No matter what, he had to get both pearls—otherwise, moving forward in the Azure Tide Ruins would be next to impossible. But actually getting them was going to be insanely difficult.
"Evan, there's a Thunder Spirit Pearl in the Thunder Pool on the Divine Battlefield. But even if you know where it is, you can't get it—entering the Thunder Pool takes at least Fifth-Layer Saint Martial strength, and even then you might not survive. That place is filled with endless lightning; I went in once and barely escaped with my life. It's terrifying." Heaven Ape said.
Evan Chu felt a wave of unease—Fifth-Layer Saint Martial was so far beyond him, and even breaking into the Saint Martial Realm at all was still a huge question mark. It looked like restoring Luna's body was a goal that was nowhere in sight.
"It's fine. I'll just take it one step at a time. With the Netherworld entrance sealed, getting the Netherghost Violet Orchid is even harder. If I can get the Wood and Gold Spirit Pearls, that'll already be a win. So, where exactly is the Wood Spirit Pearl?" Evan asked helplessly.
"The Monster Beast Forest is full of its own problems, too. The four Beast King Halls don't get along at all—same kind of rivalry as everywhere else. The Western and Northern Beast King Halls are like water and fire, always at odds, and the Eastern and Southern halls aren't much better—relations are tense there too.
The Southern and Northern Halls have already formed an alliance, but the East and West haven't. It's not that I don't want an alliance—it's just that the master of the Eastern Hall, that stubborn bear, thinks he's strong enough to stand alone. So my Western Hall always has to watch out for the other two." the Vice Hall Master explained.
Evan Chu started to get it—looks like there's no such thing as a peaceful place, everything's full of conflict. So he asked, "Does that mean the Wood Spirit Pearl is somewhere in the territory of the Southern and Northern Halls?"
"Exactly. There's a terrifying place in the Monster Beast Forest called the Life-and-Death Grove. For monster beasts, entering it means nine deaths for every one life. Some do come out, and their cultivation skyrockets, but they can't explain why. The only thing they say is that the place is weird—once inside, it's like you become an ordinary mortal, unable to use your Stellar Power at all. But once you're out, you realize your realm has somehow improved.
A lot of beasts want to get stronger, so they risk going in, but out of thousands who enter, only a handful ever come out. And even then, most of them turn into idiots. It's seriously messed up." the Vice Hall Master said.
Evan Chu was shaken—there was actually a place like this in the world? "So how do you know there's a Wood Spirit Pearl in there?"
"Every beast that makes it out keeps repeating two words: Spirit Pearl. There's a super-dense aura of life in the Life-and-Death Grove, so it's obviously the Wood Spirit Pearl. No doubt about it. But getting it is almost impossible—I'd say just give up. That place is way too dangerous. Even a Saint Martial–realm beast went in once and never came out. You can imagine what it's like in there." the Vice Hall Master said.
"Don't be afraid, Evan. That Life-and-Death Grove is probably a really powerful illusion realm. With me and your insane defenses, you should be fine. Maybe you'll really come out stronger, just like they say. It's a rare opportunity—you should grab it while you can." Luna's voice suddenly echoed in Evan Chu's mind.
"An illusion realm? Then maybe I should bring the Violet Thunder Fox along. Who knows where she ran off to—I haven't seen her anywhere." Evan Chu said.
"Yeah, that little fox is great with illusions—definitely bring her. She's actually attached to Claire Ouyang right now. No idea how she pulled that off, maybe it has something to do with absorbing the Flame Spider." Luna said.
At this, Evan Chu turned to Heaven Ape and the Vice Hall Master and said, "I have to go into the Life-and-Death Grove. Don't worry, I'm confident I can make it out—after all, you know who I really am."
"Wait—maybe you should think this over. The Life-and-Death Grove is seriously dangerous. What if something goes wrong?" Heaven Ape said anxiously.
"Yeah, you've got a really important mission—you can't risk your life like this. Maybe I should go instead." the Vice Hall Master said.
"No need. If I'm saying this, it's because I know I can handle it. Here—take a look at this." Evan Chu lifted his wrist to show them something...
PS: Some readers say the updates have slowed down—yeah, that's true. I'm stockpiling chapters right now, since the free period is coming. Otherwise, if I run out of drafts, it'll be a disaster...